Waterloo A Novel [Paperback]

Nick Lasseter is in a slump--as a reporter for theWaterloo Weekly,and in every other part of his life as well. When he grudgingly agrees to write a piece about a rising female Republican legislator, he stumbles onto a political fight in which the good guys and bad guys start to seem interchangeable. And not even the deceased can be relied upon to stick to their stories when Nick gets involved with a political insider. As they search the dim depths of a civic past that's anything but dead and buried, they find that some things never change--things like the moral ambiguity of practical politics and the sad, hilarious cluelessness of young men in love.

Bittersweet and biting, elegiac and sharply observed,Waterloois a portrait of a generation in search of itself--and a love letter to the slackers, rockers, hustlers, hacks, and hangers-on who populate Austin, Texas--from a formidable new intelligence in American fiction.

A melancholy comedy of Texas politics [written] with great wit and assurance. Mark Costello, The New York Times Book Review

Frank, clever prose. The Believer

Pleasantly ambles along like a Patsy Cline ballad. . . . Olsson masterfully incorporates . . . a theme of transience . . . into each story line. Time Out New York

Olsson's true achievement: connecting the real world of state politics and raw deals to an imaginary world of human frailty and complexity . . . What makesWaterlootranscendent of its time and place is Olsson's ability to draw out the common humanity between liberal journalist Nick Lasseter and conservative politician Beverley Flintic. Austin American-Statesman

An affectionate and gently humorous tribute to . . . Austin . . . Politics and journalism play a major role in the story and are handled with intelligence and insight. . . . This debut has much to recommend it. Library Journal

Acid-sweet tale of life, love and politicslS"